High Spirits

by Rob Keeley

Winner in Young Adult category of the Georgina Hawtrey-Woore Award (formerly the Independent Author Book Awards)

“Millions of people will die in the war, Ellie. And it’s our job to make sure it happens. That’s why our work isn’t easy.”

It’s been two years since Ellie last spoke to Edward. She thinks she’s left the spirit world behind. But the spirits won’t take no for an answer... When Ellie’s Mum returns to Inchwood Manor, Ellie finds herself going too... and is transported back to the 1930s, discovering a plot to impersonate the King of England.

With the Second World War coming, and the first evil spirits starting to escape into the mortal world, Ellie is fighting alongside some unexpected allies...

Rob Keeley is back with High Spirits, the fourth instalment in his multi-award-listed Spirits series. The series allows young people to learn more about other times, as well as the time in which they live.

High Spirits sees the series come of age and picks up with the central character, Ellie in her teenage years as she begins to realise the true nature of her abilities as one who talks to ghosts – and to discover her destiny. It sees her time-travel to the 1930s, as she discovers evil spirits and Nazi sympathisers working together in a way that will change the course of history. She then discovers the impact that such a change would have. It’s a compelling ghostly thriller, which also allows some parallels to be drawn with the present day. It builds the ongoing story arc to a climax, which will be resolved in the fifth and final book of the series.

High Spirits works both as a stand-alone novel and as one of a series. It will appeal to girls and boys of upper primary and lower secondary age – and to parents and teachers reading the book aloud.

I have written a 30-page PDF booklet, Rob Keeley's Story Starters, part-based on the writing prompts I wrote for the Stay At Home Literary Festival and used with their kind permission. These Story Starters have now been expanded into a fun two-week Creative Writing course for young people, suitable for Key Stages 2 and 3.

This is available to parents, teachers, schools, homeschools and children's libraries (or anyone who wants some fun writing activities) in the UK for just Â£10! Email me via robkeeley.co.uk.

10 April 2020

My Stay At Home Literary Festival story for children is now available to view FREE on the Festival website - and it's the first new Liam and Justin story in five years! Read 'Lockdown' here: https://stayathomelitfest.co.uk/writers-in-residence/7/

7 April 2020

Childish Spirits has received another award longlisting, for the WriteMentor Children's Novel Award, and was given an honourable mention too! My thanks to their judges. Read more at robkeeley.co.uk.

27 March 2020

I have been made Children's Writer in Residence for the Stay-at-Home! online literary festival! I was already booked to do a Q&A at this, and this will still take place, alongside activities for young readers. The festival runs from today, 27 March until 11 April, entirely on the Internet! So, here's what will be happening:

- I will be tweeting a writing prompt for children each day during the Festival! Great for families homeschooling or young people still at school. Follow me at twitter.com/RobKeeleyAuthor and tweet back with the hashtag #StayAtHomeFest. If you write something based on these, tweet a picture of it using the hashtag and I'll retweet.

- I'll be writing a children's story especially for the Festival website. More on this soon! stayathomefest.wordpress.com

- I'll be doing my Q&A on Twitter from 3-4pm next Friday, 3 April. Come and join me via the link above and again, use the hashtag #StayAtHomeFest.

My thanks to the Festival organisers - it's great to be representing children's literature at such a historic event. Check robkeeley.co.uk and twitter.com/RobKeeleyAuthor for more news!

8 November 2019

Bookings now being taken for school, library and Creative Writing workshops for the New Year - and some slots still available for this term. Teachers, librarians, get in touch! FREE books with every booking. See free brochure on the Home page at robkeeley.co.uk.

20 July 2019

Spotlight on Childish Spirits and its audiobook today, on The Cozy Pages! My thanks to Nina. You can view the entire feature here:

Two linked reviews today for the Childish Spirits audiobook - all the way from Hawaii! My thanks to Yolanda. An extract has been added to My Stories at www.robkeeley.co.uk and you can view the entire articles here:

The audiobook of Childish Spirits, read by Sally Millest, is now on sale! Links are being added to the book's My Stories page and the Links page at www.robkeeley.co.uk.

10 May 2019

The eBook of Childish Spirits is now on sale and is available from Amazon, Google Play and iBooks, among others. Links have been added here and will be shortly at www.robkeeley.co.uk.

3 May 2019

The audiobook of Childish Spirits will be available soon from Audible and iTunes and...! I can now announce that an eBook version will be published too! This is the first Spirits novel to be converted to the eBook format(s) and I hope more will follow. It will be available from all the usual e-retailers. More soon...

15 April 2019

I will be on Radio Local this weekend, broadcasting live from the Cherry Tree Shopping Centre, Liscard, Wirral! This is a new radio station broadcast straight from high streets in a 12-hour show, built for and with the places it visits, hosted by comedy duo Hunt and Darton and various local guest presenters and providing twelve hours of art on the airwaves!

I will be on-air at 5.30pm on Easter Saturday (20 April), as part of Story Time, reading 'Pupil Power' from The Dinner Club and Other Stories.

Tune in via Radio Wirral by downloading the Radio Wirral app, ask your smart speaker to 'Play Radio Wirral' or on Tune In:

https://tunein.com/radio/Radio-Wirral-921-s122948/

More updates will be posted on Twitter @RobKeeleyAuthor.

8 April 2019

I will be holding a FREE Creative Writing introductory workshop for adults at Wallasey Central Library on Friday 17 May from 2-4pm, as part of Get Creative Week. Book now to get your place!
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/adult-creative-writing-taster-session-with-rob-keeley-tickets-59571564152

27 February 2019

New interview with me at SouthWaves Audio today! View it here:

http://www.southwavesaudio.co.uk/2019/02/26/rob-keeley/

4 February 2019

My first Spirits novel, Childish Spirits, is to be recorded as an audiobook! It will be produced by my publisher Matador and available exclusively through Audible (Amazon) and iTunes (Apple). More news soon from robkeeley.co.uk!

2 January 2019

The Coming of the Spirits has been voted one of The Bookbag's top 10 indie books for 2018!

Saturday 11 August - at Linghams Booksellers, 248 Telegraph Road, Heswall, Wirral CH60 7SG - 11.00am - to be followed by a signing of the book.

Bring the family along - it would be great to see you there!

Meanwhile, for older kids, The Alien in the Garage is entering its second print run! Check it out!

6 June 2018

Great news - High Spirits, my fourth Spirits novel, has won an award! It's won second prize in the Young Adult category of the Georgina Hawtrey-Woore independent author awards run by Words for the Wounded. More soon at www.robkeeley.co.uk!

22 January 2018

The cover for my first picture book, My Favourite People, is now online! Read about it here at Troubador (click in right margin to view the page) and shortly at www.robkeeley.co.uk (link at bottom right below). For up-to-the-minute news and info, follow me on Twitter @RobKeeleyAuthor.

15 January 2018

Mixed, Matched, Stewed Together, With A Pickle On Top! I give my views on fantasy literature for children, blending genres, and a preview of the final Spirits novel in my guest blog for novelist, columnist and PR guru Stewart Bint!

Rob Keeley

Hi and welcome to my webpage! My name is Rob Keeley and I'm a writer of short stories, novels and drama, especially for children and a family audience. My novel for older children, High Spirits, was a winner at the Georgina Hawtrey-Woore Awards and my other books for children have been longlisted for the inaugural Bath Children's Novel Award, the WriteMentor Award and the International Rubery Book Award, Highly Commended for the Independent Author Book Award and nominated for the People's Book Prize.

My other credits include writing for the radio series Chain Gang and Newsjack for BBC Radio 4 Extra and fiction and non-fiction for various magazines. I regularly give workshops in schools, bookshops and libraries. Since 2016 I have been a judge for the IGGY and Litro Young Writers' Prize. I am a patron of the Children's Media Foundation.

For more information, please visit www.robkeeley.co.uk or follow me on Twitter @RobKeeleyAuthor. I hope you enjoy my books.

Rob

Buy as a printed book

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